Under the cold logic of the insurance industry, it makes perfect sense: If you are in a marriage with someone who has beaten you in the past, you’re more likely to get beaten again than the average person and are therefore more expensive to insure.

This may be the most disgusting thing I have ever heard. The fact that an insurance company could deny health care to a woman who has been severely abused is a horrifically cruel punishment. It also makes me wonder if we can truly say that women’s rights have been advanced if there are 8 states that still allow this practice.

2 Responses

A simple resolution to recognize October as Domestic Violence Awareness Month by the Pennsylvania House of Representatives was halted by Rep. Daryl Metcalfe, a Republican representing Butler. Why? Because, he said, “It has a homosexual agenda.”

No, I’m not making this up. Here is the rest of the quote from his remarks on the House floor, objecting to the resolution: “I protest, this is not non-controversial, and if you read the language it has a homosexual agenda.” 1

On the same day, also on the House floor, he made matters worse. The House was about to vote on increasing marriage license fees from $3 to $28, with the increased amount going to a fund for victims of domestic abuse. Metcalfe opposed the measure, calling the funding of domestic violence programs “a slap in the face to family values.”2 The bill passed despite his outrageous claim.

Rep. Metcalfe clearly has a problem with preventing domestic violence in Pennsylvania. He also has a problem with LGBT people and other minorities trying to assert and protect their rights.

We say “Enough of Metcalfe’s bigotry and ignorance!” Join people from all over Pennsylvania is demanding that he allow a vote of the resolution recognizing Domestic Violence Awareness Month and demanding that he should apologize for his insensitive remarks.

Domestic violence is a serious problem that needs our attention and the support of our state legislators. According to the resolution that the House was considering 3:

One in every four women and one in every nine men will experience domestic violence in his or her lifetime.
One in six women and one in 33 men have experienced an attempted or completed rape.
Approximately 1.3 million women and 835,000 men are physically assaulted by an intimate partner annually in the United States.
Thirty percent to 60% of perpetrators of intimate partner violence also abuse children in the home.
Intimate partner violence results in more than 18.5 million mental health care visits each year.
The cost of intimate partner violence exceeds $5.8 billion each year, $4.1 billion of which is for direct medical and mental health services.
Please take action now to tell Rep. Metcalfe what you think. Then forward this to everyone you know and ask them to write to Metcalfe. http://www.keystoneprogress.org/page/speakout/pametcalfe1

A simple resolution to recognize October as Domestic Violence Awareness Month by the Pennsylvania House of Representatives was halted by Rep. Daryl Metcalfe, a Republican representing Butler. Why? Because, he said, “It has a homosexual agenda.”

No, I’m not making this up. Here is the rest of the quote from his remarks on the House floor, objecting to the resolution: “I protest, this is not non-controversial, and if you read the language it has a homosexual agenda.”1

On the same day, also on the House floor, he made matters worse. The House was about to vote on increasing marriage license fees from $3 to $28, with the increased amount going to a fund for victims of domestic abuse. Metcalfe opposed the measure, calling the funding of domestic violence programs “a slap in the face to family values.”2 The bill passed despite his outrageous claim.

Rep. Metcalfe clearly has a problem with preventing domestic violence in Pennsylvania. He also has a problem with LGBT people and other minorities trying to assert and protect their rights.

We say “Enough of Metcalfe’s bigotry and ignorance!” Join people from all over Pennsylvania is demanding that he allow a vote of the resolution recognizing Domestic Violence Awareness Month and demanding that he should apologize for his insensitive remarks.

Domestic violence is a serious problem that needs our attention and the support of our state legislators. According to the resolution that the House was considering3:

* One in every four women and one in every nine men will experience domestic violence in his or her lifetime.
* One in six women and one in 33 men have experienced an attempted or completed rape.
* Approximately 1.3 million women and 835,000 men are physically assaulted by an intimate partner annually in the United States.
* Thirty percent to 60% of perpetrators of intimate partner violence also abuse children in the home.
* Intimate partner violence results in more than 18.5 million mental health care visits each year.
* The cost of intimate partner violence exceeds $5.8 billion each year, $4.1 billion of which is for direct medical and mental health services.